Tag Archive: Facebook

Yes. what is life? Dictionaries will say there is evidence of some action and some self-sustaining processes. Evidence of living. Is that all?

Well, when that question somehow popped up in my head, for some strange reason Haddaway‘s ‘ What is love‘ started playing in my head. Those of a certain vintage may remember. It goes, ‘What is love?’

‘Oh baby don’t hurt me.

Don’t hurt me no more’. I am sure you know the rest of the lyrics.

Is there a connection between the two? After all life can be a direct result of love (intended or not). Chicken and egg come to mind.

What is life? Are we defined by our jobs? Our self-worth? Are we defined by our monetary value? Or the friends we keep? Our families? The letters after our names? The titles? our failings? Our successes? Are we defined by some altruistic concept?

The mortal coil that is us. Is That’s what is life is? What about our beliefs? Our faith? Or our non-faith?

Living the high life. Living la vida loca. Living the life of Riley.Is that what it is? I may be rumbling. But one has to ask these questions. Or are we to assume since we are living the life, that is life. Should we find room in ourselves to explore and discover more about us? Whats there to learn?. Explorers, all those hundreds of years ago traveled thousands of miles to discover something new. Discover what really? Was that the life? Or a mere self-fulfilling mission? Is life anything to do with one’s happiness, or sadness? Or could it be an accident? I am not even alluding to conception! Or is it some intrinsic concept yet defined? I only ask because I want to know. Otherwise I would keep schtum. Wouldn’t ask otherwise.

The Bible says the world and life was constructed in 7 days. Religions all bicker on what is life. Scientists have their own interpretation, and only last week a ‘Great discovery’ was made-Higgs boson. Apparently its the ‘God‘ particle. Its sent everyone in the scientific world agog. Doesn’t take much to please some people. Someone should issue a fatwa! It is a good thing no one said it was the ‘A’ word! The ‘G’ word is all right. Just a thought, imagine they had called that particle ‘Pippa’s Bottom’-Millions of young boys (and girls too) would have become science-interested and thus turn a ‘boring’ thing into an overnight sensation.

Got to admit no one really knows what ‘life’ really is . Otherwise we would not all come up with different answers. The American Dream could be all what life is? But the deeply religious Americans may say otherwise. Survival of the fittest could be what it is, essentially. But surely should life be measured by the length of time one was of sound mind, and breathing? Could life not extend beyond our brief sojourn on this beautiful planet? Well, if you take away the Greenhouse effect, tsunamis, earthquakes, the cheating bankers, terrorists. It is beautiful. Well, I could add CNN, FOX, The Sun too-heck I wont cause I may get into some deep muck. The other side of the same coin is could life be something that started before we were born-those lustful looks, back of the car incidents, cinemas – I mean could our lives have been predetermined even before conception. I was gonna say DNAs, but freaked out. I don’t want to open up an even larger hornets nest. But seriously, where do we start from and where do we end?

Is it like the chicken & egg question? Well, imagine Mr/Ms Chicken having a chat with their neighbour Mr/Ms Egg discussing who came first!

I am still struggling to get a definitive answer to the question posited in the title. However, I was reading a blog earlier today which persuaded me to look for answers from a different perspective. The blog is called http://www.wedontknowwhatthefutureholds.com. There is a quote from that blog I have un-ashamadely copied and pasted. It goes:

” Life is a test that we have to take; a risk, and one chance that we have. It is hard but with age comes kindness, good fortune, and love for others. Kindness is a gift to receive; a gift so special that you may only receive it once in a lifetime.”
– Beata B.

Is life a test? We do get tested almost everyday since we take risks everyday. Everyone one of us has to make some judgement everyday. Sometimes we call it wrongly. Other times we get it right. Experience helps. So does intelligence, culture, social and physical geography, upbringing, socialization, DNA(?), social circles etc. That quote also made me think that life is also a gift. It’s a mortal present bestowed upon us to utilize wisely. Otherwise we would not be tested. Would we? I used to listen to a lot of rap music and some of the lyrics, possibly majority ululated about not living beyond the 20s. It seemed like a badge of honour that someone would cease to exist or kind of looked forward to their demise at such a tender age. Is it because the test was too hard? Or perhaps it was an acknowledgement that there was nothing worth striving for beyond a certain age. Or just misguided lyrics? Or perhaps some element of artistic licence?

“The sole meaning of life is to serve humanity by contributing to the establishment of the kingdom of God, which can only be done by the recognition and profession of the truth by every man.”

I love Twitter. It is a really cool blog. But what I can not understand is why just 140 characters to make your statement. Or perhaps that could be adequate.

It is like we should speak synoptically. We could twitterise everything we talk about in life. Well, I suppose when it comes to relationships/marriages its been Twitter-speak since Adam and Eve. Not a lot was said to Eve to get her to eat of that fruit! I am sure whoever invented Twitter must have been a man and he possibly got the eureka moment a few weeks into their marriage. After realising you can get what you want without saying much.

In most male/female relationships one has got to admit the fairer sex does most of the chatting. I am not being sexist. Just being a realist. If you want some peace at times all it takes is say something that the other half does not like. You then get a 140-characters barrage in response. After that, complete schtum. Or sometimes an extra few words like ‘you dont listen’ or in worst case scenarios, a few select expletives. After that the conversation gets to zero or a few characters at a time. until the day one apologizes or buys flowers.

Most relationships I have been told, break down because people are not talking anymore. Communication is blamed, as is if it is the 3rd person in the relationship. I beg to differ. People talk. But they Twitter. A few syllables in the morning at breakfast. A few texts during the day. Yet more syllables in the evening. Then topped by the ‘headaches’ twitter bedtime. So people do talk, but can not understand each other because their conversation has become limited to 140 characters. Actually, I think some men are quite satisfied with communicating that way, anyway.

Wouldnt it be magic if parliamentarians were limited to 140 character speeches in Parliament. The words, ‘Mr. Speaker, sir’ and ‘My Honourable friend’ would also constitute part of the 140 characters! Imagine Prime Minister’s Questions or the debate on some nondescript Bills. If you were to separate the grain from the chaff, take away the grand posturing and propensity to lie, politicians do not say much at all in Parliament either.Talking of Bills, a State Senator in Arizona Rich Crandall proposes that aside from just being able to snoop via wireless carriers on the numbers their teens are texting, they get access to the content (the language). Big Brother in the 21st Century. Be warned. Well, best of luck to the parents who want to decipher the content!

Kids have all ready stolen a march and parents/adults are playing catch-up!

School-going children, teenagers are all ready adept at the new form of speaking: words (or are they?) such as BFF, OMG, gtg, gl, brb, y, lmfao and lol have all entered the lexicon surreptitiously. Why not introduce a form of the Language, using Twitter-speak as the standard into the curriculum? The great and the good of many years ago attempted to introduce Esperanto into our lives. Twitter-speak could be the alternative, the panacea. Even folk who do not speak English exclaim OMG! Imagine the whole world speaking Twitter-speak. We could all understand each other perfectly. The advantages would be immense: Harmonious relationships will be built, thus putting to bed the communication argument for relationship break-ups! .Students will pass their language exams. Politicians could be trusted. It would also enrich family relationships and communication as parents and their children will be able to converse on level terms.

We can all become Twitter-specialists, Psychologists will compete to set up Twitter-compliant psychological tests. And who will need Facebook anymore? Or even Bebo? There will be times when one wants to vent out their frustration and Facebook could be the place for that. Or if that fails, speak through Flikr, or Pinterest-after all a picture speaks a thousand words.

I have always been fascinated with speech, the intonations, the body language and the subtexts. However, I am a very common man who wants it black and white. Remove the sarcasm. Take away the innuendo. Just serve me plain omelette when I ask for an omelette.

We should have a Eurovision Twit Contest. Im sure the Brits would win that. Just bring out Jordan. The less said, the greater chance of triumphing!

Summary:

Bff will like this. Others may not. Gr8 if its k. Y its original. Np if u dont like it. Gl with your life. imo we should have a soh. lmfao.

There! Said it in 140 characters: Best friend forever will like it. Others may not. Great if its to your liking. Yes its original. No problem if you dont like it. Good luck with your life. In my opinion we should have a sense of humour. Laughing my ass off.

Danielle Darrieux in the French film Lady Chatterley’s Lover (L’Amant de Lady Chatterley) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I have heard a lot said about ’50 Shades of Grey’, by E L James. Apparently its ‘soft porn‘ and one of the best books out there. Its flying off the shelves, and has led to an upsurge in Kindle sells. I now know who to blame if there is an upsurge in the Greenhouse effect! Just kidding!

We should be thanking the writer for getting our female friends or partners to get interested in reading again. I have since had more time to play FIFA12 on my PS3 since I bought, the Kindle and the complete set of the book!! Small price to pay for domestic bliss.

This book/set of books has also made me think – since our OHs are now pro-soft porn, surely they should not frown upon us men if and when we decide to watch the late-night soft-porn channels. After all what is good for the gander should be good for the goose! I shall try and test this new ‘enlightened’ world one of these nights and ‘accidentally’ turn the tv over to one of these hitherto ‘banned’ channels. I shall report back on the reaction. One thing I learnt in Chemistry when doing experiments is that you should always wear protection and be prepared for different outcomes. My ‘protection’ (ha-ha, not that type!) will be alcohol so I intend to be slightly inebriated so that I can blame it on the booze. I don’t plan to be too inebriated for I intend to utterly enjoy a positive reaction,if one is forthcoming.

Ever since the day I bought the books, I have been slowly and quietly counting down to the day that I shall receive my real ‘Thanks’. I do not intend to read the book, but like any good investor, I intend to reap the rewards. And on those special occasion(s) I get a return on my investment, I shall secretly be saying ‘thank you’ to E L James.

An update

I have read somewhere that a jealous boyfriend squirted his girlfriend with Ketchup because he was getting jealous of the time she spent with Mr. Grey. Sorry, I meant reading the novel! He is also alleged to have slapped her as well. We should not condone violence at all, for whatever reason. As for squirting the sauce, what a waste of ketchup? However, Mr Bounderby would have used baby oil instead! Not out of jealous! This tome, or ‘mommy porn,” as it is called now, has been a revolutionary revelation. Just looking at a cross-section of Facebook status updates, it is amazing how many women are saying ‘going to bed early’ to read ‘mommy porn’. Mr Bounderby is a very enlightened man, and will never look down upon people who decide to read. Reading is a joy. More people should engage in it. However, I think if we were to juxtapose that with Facebook updates (imaginary updates for the time being) from men stating: ‘I’m off to bed to read Playboy’ or Penthouse’, Hustler’ or even just to watch some late night ‘soft-porn TV‘ ; I bet there would be an outcry and some choice words would be thrown in the men’s direction too. Society is still somewhat uptight when openly talking about what the ‘majority’ consider ‘taboo’.

We should be glad though that ’50 Shades of Grey’ has somehow and unwittingly enlightened a lot of people. A significant proportion of the population anyway. Does anyone remember the hullabaloo that followed the publication of ‘Lady Chatterley’s Lover‘? (D. H. Lawrence). The furore and obscenity trials in the USA, Canada,UK and Australia. Maybe we are living in more open times. Times that allow the proliferation of independent thoughts, ideas, divergent opinions, acceptance of diversity, acceptance of free speech etc. Perhaps society is slowly accepting that some of these taboos are a thing for History lectures. Or am I dreaming of some fantasy world? Judging by the reaction of that British gentleman above, and stories like the one below we are still struggling to cope with openness especially when it comes to the same ‘taboo’ subjects like ‘sex’. Feminists are all agog, saying books like ’50 Shades’ denigrate women, and Christian fundamentalists think they are heinous. I am not 100% sure what other religions’ fundamentalists would say or do if they see their women folk reading the book.

I have not read the book myself. However, I am glad the book has been written for it has given me some fodder for the blog. Apart from that, it has also made a lot of women buy and read books. It has also made society realise women actually like that type of written material and that they also do enjoy ‘sex’. Some have come out and confessed they had not read a book for years. Surely anything that makes people read should be welcome. I am certain the nation has benefited immensely. So have the men.